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Kylo Ren
|crimes = Mass murder Usurpation Terrorism Stalking Torture Incrimination Kidnapping Patricide Attempted murder Assault Battery Criminal threats |type of villain = Wrathful Dark Knight}} Kylo Ren, originally born as Ben Solo, is the central antagonist of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. He appears as the main antagonist of the first two installments, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, and as the deuteragonist of the third and final installment, The Rise of Skywalker. He is also the overarching antagonist of the animated television series Star Wars Resistance. He was the dark, powerful, and extremely obsessive Master of the Knights of Ren, as well as the apprentice of Supreme Leader Snoke, before killing him to become the new and second Supreme Leader of the First Order and the new apprentice of Emperor Palpatine. He was also the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, the nephew of Luke Skywalker, the grandson of Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) and Padmé Amidala as well as the archenemy-turned-ally of Rey. He was portrayed by in his first villainous role. Personality In his youth, Ben Solo was unaware of his true heritage, but suffered from feelings of abandonment due to the struggles his parents had with their lives. He admired the power of his maternal grandfather Anakin Skywalker, but particularly in his Vader incarnation. Because of this, Ben struggled with the dark side of the Force. After he became Kylo Ren, he is extremely ruthless, brutal, savage, wrathful, confident and manipulative, but appears to carry at least some guilt and remorse for his actions. Like Anakin, he is irresponsible, uncompromising, temperamental, short-tempered, hotheaded, and torn by internal conflict. However, given that he didn't complete some of his training before turning evil, his immature nature is more apparent. However, unlike his maternal grandfather, Kylo is far less able to control his temper and emotions, as well as the fact that he is far less calm, tolerant, phlegmatic, level-headed, reasonable, patient, and far more prone to bouts of rage. To establish his rejection of his past life, he serves the First Order with great passion towards his master Snoke. He does, however, abandon his attachment towards Snoke after finding out that he used him. Despite this, he carries on his attachment to Vader into adulthood, desiring to uphold the Sith Lord's legacy by destroying all the Jedi. He even proceeds to murder his father Han to sever his hold on the light side, as well as murdering Snoke to take over as the new Supreme Leader, similar to what his grandfather had planned to do to Emperor Palpatine. Kylo is not without fear; he is afraid that he will never become as powerful as his maternal grandfather and fears what the light side's hold has on him. Unlike Vader, he finds conflict with these traits, especially towards the idea of family. Being seen as a focal point between the heritage of both the light and the dark also furthered his inner conflict. Despite this, he chooses to believe that Vader's sentimentality was the weakness that led to the fall of the Galactic Empire. Feeling that this care is what holds him back, Kylo believes that to be as powerful as Vader and embrace the dark side is to completely abandon the light side. Kylo still showed signs of conflict as during his telepathic conversations with Rey, his weakness was shown and she used that to try to convince him to break free and join the light side. Rey almost succeeded in that regard and she might've succeeded in the end, but by the time he brought Rey to Snoke onboard the Supremacy, Kylo had already submitted to the dark side and only killed Snoke and his guards to take over the First Order for his own personal gains, and to ensure his own survival. Kylo himself is opposed to the past: the Jedi, the Sith, the Rebels, etc., and seeks to recreate the galaxy in his own image and to establish a legacy that's far different than that of Snoke's or Luke's and even wanted Rey to join his cause. Upon taking over the First Order and becoming its Supreme Leader, Kylo led the First Order to invade Crait and during the battle, he showcased an obsessive nature with destroying the Resistance and when dueling Luke Skywalker, he showcased his mentally unstable nature and had an irrational obsession with killing Luke to finally end the Jedi and finally erasing their presence from the galaxy all together. Even some of his more heinous men expressed concern towards his obsession. Kylo remains one of the most complex villains of the franchise because of his fear of being weak. Despite committing many heinous crimes, he has his moments of compassion even though he wants to remove all positive traits so he can become stronger. What currently seals his fate as a villain, however, is that despite caring about Rey, he tricked her into thinking he reformed so he could try to make her join the Dark Side with him. This proves that he isn't above using others for his goals. One year after ruling the galaxy through the First Order, Kylo finds himself in more conflict after learning that Palpatine resurrected himself form the dead, and that he's been pulling the strings by creating Snoke and the First Order as a means of regaining control of the galaxy. He's even more shocked to learn that Rey is actually the granddaughter of Palpatine as she inherited his skills in Force lightning. At first, Kylo was determined to kill Palpatine to secure his own power, but falls into the latter's plot of tracking down Rey due to his own insecurities. However, Kylo loses control of the First Order to Palpatine after his failure to capture Rey following Leia's death, which he sensed in distraught. Kylo eventually learns that Palpatine intends to sacrifice himself to Rey's wrath so that his power and spirit can transfer into her body to rebuilt the Sith legacy, which is practically everything against what Kylo hoped to achieve. Finally realizing the horrible plight that Palpatine put him through his entire life and with the loss of his entire family, Kylo finally decided that his desire to become as powerful as his grandfather is not worth the risk, which incited him to sever his ties to the dark side and help Rey in defeating Palpatine for good. After Rey sacrifices herself to defeat Palpatine, Kylo was emotionally distraught over Rey's death, implying that he had genuine feelings for her and seeing that she has became more powerful than Palpatine and Vader. It was those feelings of love and care that motivated Kylo to give Rey a second chance by transferring his own life force into Rey, who subsequently kissed him before he dies succumbing to his injuries. As such, Kylo Ren has found redemption as he becomes one with the Force, reunited with his loved ones in death; even Rey took on the Skywalker surname in honor of what Kylo did for her. Appearance Kylo is a tall, dark, and gangly young man, quite similar to his grandfather in his youth. He has broad proportions, including unusually long and thin arms and legs, as well as a large nose and full lips. His hair is black, thick, curly, and approximately chin-length. Following his defeat at the hands of Rey on the Starkiller Base, Kylo bears a scar across the left side of his face. While fully clothed, Kylo initially wore a metal mask that envelopes his whole head, which features ornamental patterns that draw contours around his visor. His mask was designed by him to take inspiration from the late Darth Vader. He later destroyed this mask in a fit of rage and decided to go without it, after Snoke mocked him for wearing it, and ostensibly in order to "break" with his past. His clothing is black and tailored around his lean physique. The clothing is predominantly made from a soft, flexible material, though his belt and boots are leather-based. Powers and Abilities The Force The heir to the Skywalker bloodline, being the grandson of Darth Vader (The Chosen One), Ben Solo possessed an amazingly strong connection to the Force and wielded such immense levels of raw, untamed power that even Luke Skywalker, despite being notably more powerful than Ren as of his current level, was terrified of what Ben could grow into, and Snoke was so impressed that he believed Ben could be a key to unlimited power and hence corrupted him to the dark side. While he displayed remarkable seasoned mastery of the Force from having both learned the ways of the Jedi and Sith, Kylo Ren still had not reached his full potential due to his conflicts and as of now, he remains less powerful than Vader, Luke and Snoke as well as possibly his mother Leia, but he is still exceptionally powerful and only Rey has been seen to be his equal Ren is capable of making the dark side flow through him to increase his physical abilities. Even while severely injured, he was able to use the Force to dash at enough speeds to cut ahead of Rey and Finn despite having already been considerably distanced. He could even use the dark side to amplify his prowess through the pain by beating on it even further. Ren is highly accomplished with telekinesis and many of its forms, both offensive and defensive. He is capable of performing multiple telekinetic feats simultaneously to great effect, as shown by how he easily flung Rey to a tree while simultaneously forcing Rey to point her blaster at the floor and also freezing her and to pull Dopheld Mitaka by the neck to his hand, as well as to hold him up with one hand while still pulling them with the Force. When defending himself from Skywalker the night his master came close to murdering him, Ren was able to telekinetically collapse an entire hut on Luke while keeping it from harming him and clashing blades with Skywalker at the same time. He was proficient enough to use telekinetic halts of such potency in combat that he was able to freeze the motion of a target to a sufficient degree to fully immobilize and restrain people while even holding a blaster bolt midair for over a minute. Ren is also a powerful telepath, displaying remarkable prowess in using telepathic powers designed to capture or torture others. His prowess in mind probe could easily invade and torture even strong willed targets to quickly break them, as he swiftly broke the trained Poe. He was also able to cause sleep on targets, as he did with Rey on Takona. Combat Skills Kylo Ren, having drawn from the teachings of both the light and dark side to hone his skills, is highly seasoned expert lightsaber duelist. His ability to single-handedly massacre his fellow Jedi implied he was the best student his uncle trained and this feat earned him the name of "Jedi Killer" and it was this achievement of skill that ultimately prevented the art of lightsaber combat from returning to prominence. Kylo displays remarkable prowess in the use of an acrobatic, fluid and aggressive form of lightsaber combat mirroring that of his grandfather's own style and displayed seasoned hand-to-hand combat prowess, effectively chaining martial arts attacks into his dueling style. He could easily deflect multiple blaster bolts and even while injured, fairly swiftly beat and nearly killed Finn. Shortly afterwards, he was still able to overwhelm Rey, in the end only losing because of his conflict and weakened state. Luke noted Ren's prowess was far greater than Rey's whose lack of experience hindered her. Later on, Ren worked alongside Rey in defeating the incredibly skilled Praetorian Guards successfully despite their training to kill Force sensitives. Although they were separated, Ren displayed superior skill and versatility towards Rey by single-handedly repelling 4 guards and killing them all, only being beaten upon being caught off guard by his last foe, who he still killed with aid from Rey. In that fight, Ren displayed notable proficiency in Jar'Kai, effectively making use of a dead guard's Vibro-Vaulge alongside his lightsaber to easily repel while simultaneously attacking and eventually killing his opponent quickly. Ren also is outstandingly durable and resilient, as he was able to survive a powerful blast from Chewbecca's blaster from long-range and although he was severely injured, he only briefly doubled over in pain and was able to continue fighting effectively. However, because of the pain, he lost to Rey after a long fight. Despite all of this, however, Ren ultimately still remained outclassed by Luke Skywalker, who was far more experienced than Rey ever could as of now, as Ren's ferocious offense were easily seen through and avoided by his uncle's projection flawlessly without even needing to use his lightsaber. This shows that Kylo, despite becoming far more skilled, limits himself with his mental instabliy. Genius-Level Intellect Kylo is amazingly intelligent. As a warlord, later the Supreme Leader of the First Order, Kylo is a highly skilled tactician and a very capable leader. He often led attacks on the Resistance on his own to victory and was even clever enough to outsmart Snoke, using his master's arrogance to mask his desire to kill his "true enemy", who was actually Snoke instead of Rey before killing him when he least suspected it. Skilled Pilot Having been born to a family filled with expert pilots, Kylo Ren is a very skilled combat pilot and pilots a TIE silencer, an advanced prototype starfighter. His piloting abilities appeared to be superior to most First Order members, as shown by how he single-handedly led the attack on the Resistance fleet. He was able to evade the Raddus' defenses and destroy the vessel's starfighter hangar, owing to his own talents as a pilot. Weapons and Equipment Lightsaber Kylo's valued weapon and possession is his red-bladed lightsaber. *'Crossguard lightsaber': Kylo had built a red-bladed crossguard lightsaber. Kylo's lightsaber was crudely built off an ancient design dating back to an event known as the Scourge of Malachor and operated using a cracked Kyber crystal. It thus has an unstable blade, necessitating the use of exhaust ports to channel and vent the weapon's excess energy so that it would not overload. The excess energy served as the lightsaber's quillons (crossguards). The weapon's blades also crackled and arced like electricity and funneled like fire, giving the weapon a ragged, menacing appearance and a deep, growling hum. It is unknown if this is the same lightsaber he possessed when he was still a member of the New Jedi Order, but is unlikely given that Jedi do not use red bladed light sabers (the blades of Dark Side user's lightsabers are red as they ritualistically bend the Kyber crystal to their will, causing the crystal to "bleed" and become red). Relationships Han Solo Kylo apparently had a poor relationship with his father as Ben. He believes that his father would just disappoint anyone he tried to be a parent to, as shown by how he coldly and bitterly told Rey Han would only disappoint her. He later rejected Han's attempts to bring him back to the Light and brutally murdered him; however, he proved he truly still loved Han and showed clear hesitance and was visibly remorseful of having killed his father, stunning him to the point of being open to being shot by Chewbecca as he somberly looked at his father's corpse falling to the deep void. Han's death haunted Ren enough that Snoke saw right through it and it allowed Rey to overpower him. He also told Rey in one of their force interactions that he did not hate Han, and the reason he killed him was to break with his past, as it was the only way to become what he was meant to be. Later, Kylo reunites with Han by connecting with him through The Force. Han makes it clear that he understands why Kylo did what he did and forgives him. This, along with his guilt, leds to Ren finally redeeming himself; even giving up his life to save Rey's. Leia Organa Not much is known about his relationship with his mother; however, Ben likely had a loving relationship with Leia. Prior to his fall to the dark side, when he started to struggle with the dark side of the Force, Leia was terrified that her son might end up like his maternal grandfather Anakin Skywalker and so sent him to study under the tutelage of her brother Luke. Unfortunately, instead of preventing it, Luke caused Ben's fall to the dark side, as Snoke preyed on Ben's internal conflict. Ben, upon conversion to the dark side, became known as Kylo Ren. Leia was heartbroken that her son had become evil and mourned his fate bitterly. Yet, despite all of he atrocities that Kylo had committed over the years, Leia still believes that Ben can come back to the light and be redeemed. After realizing there's no longer any good in him when she senses him killing Han, she had no choice but to declare her own son an enemy. Even despite all he had become and despite Ben believing Leia abandoned him by sending him to Luke, Kylo Ren proved he still loved Leia and as he had a better relationship with his mother than he had with his father, he cared for her more evidently, as shown when while leading a TIE fighter attack on the Resistance Cruiser Raddus, unlike when he eventually killed Han, upon sensing his mother's presence, he couldn't bring himself to even consider hitting the trigger anymore and chose to spare her but much to his sadness, to the point of tears, his wingmen did so and he was left unable to do anything to help his mother. Despite this, Kylo considers his mother an enemy for her failure to raise him, even after killing Snoke and taking over the First Order. It is unknown what Leia thinks about her son after he murdered her husband. On one hand, she could still feel that he can redeem himself. However, it is also possible that she resents him and wants him to face justice for everything he has done. Though as a mother, she may still love Ben as she still see him as her child. The latter proves true when, after Kylo redeems himself by betraying the Emperor, she remains by his side after he became one with The Force. Luke Skywalker When Ben started to struggle with the dark side of the Force, he was to sent to study under his uncle Luke's tutelage at the request of his mother Leia in the hope of preventing him from ending up like his maternal grandfather Anakin Skywalker. Luke taught Ben the ways of the light side of the Force and lightsaber combat. It's assumed they had a good relationship. Unfortunately, Luke made a disastrous mistake by attempting to kill Ben because he had sensed the latter's connection being stronger to the dark side and this made Ben lose any respect for his uncle and proceeded to become Kylo Ren and recruited some of his fellow apprentices to the dark side and killed those who fought him; this act greatly delayed his uncle's plan to restore the Jedi Order to its former glory and left his uncle despondent, while Ren went on to terrorize the galaxy as a leader of the First Order. Luke, despite him hating himself for what he had done, became ashamed of his nephew for his actions. Luke was one of the few who managed to survive and escape the Jedi massacre, simply because Kylo Ren didn't bother to check if Luke survived his attack. In the aftermath of the Jedi massacre, Luke was deeply grieved and racked with guilt, blaming himself for his students' deaths and his nephew's turn to the dark side. Luke then mysteriously disappeared on a quest to seek out the First Jedi Temple. Kylo, under Snoke's orders, was instructed to find and kill Luke. Snoke knows that, as long as Luke is alive, a new generation of Jedi Knights can rise once again. Also, in contrary to what he believes of Vader, Luke believes that Kylo can't be brought back into the light because of the latter's conflicted nature, even after learning that Kylo has killed both Han and Snoke in cold blood. Both Kylo and Luke despised each other, with Kylo despising Luke for initially trying to kill him, and not believing in "order", and Luke despising Kylo for destroying the New Jedi Order. Kylo hence warned Rey that Luke may very well turn on her as she is about as powerful as he is ominously and was clearly bitter when referring to his uncle's attempt to kill him. When they met, Kylo was antagonistic towards him and showed his great desire to kill his uncle, though Luke surprisingly showed some remorse for failing him. Although Luke was not truly there and was merely projecting himself through the Force, Kylo proved incapable of defeating the Projection, who merely toyed with him and dodged all of his attacks without being even touched by Ren. Luke's last words to Ren is that the war has just began and that his death would not mean the end of the Jedi, and that he'll be seeing him around in death, infuriating the young Supreme Leader. That said, they end up making amends after Kylo becomes one with The Force. Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader Anakin died before Ben was born. However, Ben come to greatly admire and revere his maternal grandfather's power, but, also came to fear that he may never be as powerful as the Chosen One. He admired and revered more of his maternal grandfather's dark aspects, than his light aspects, believing that his grandfather's love and sentimentality for his family were weaknesses. Like his maternal grandfather before him, Ben fell to the Dark side of the Force, becoming known as Kylo Ren. Kylo has seemingly become far worse than his grandfather; although Vader was brutal and ruthless, he did genuinely care about his family, ultimately leading to his redemption. Kylo, on the other hand, was willing to kill his whole family to keep feelings such as love and compassion from making him feel weak and pull him back to the light side of the Force. After Snoke told Kylo that he's a pathetic imitation of Vader, Kylo decided to stop mimicking Darth Vader and be more himself. Even after killing Snoke, Kylo revealed that he intends to erase everything in the past (the Jedi, and the Sith, the Empire and the Republic, Luke and Snoke) to build a legacy far more different than everything earlier. This may imply that he's rejecting his grandfather's Jedi and Sith legacy for a far more different approach of ruling the galaxy for himself. Supreme Leader Snoke Snoke met Ben by unknown means, and was deeply interested in him due to his embodiment as a focal point of both light and darkness (which was unusual for a Knight of Ren or any dark side master to be attracted to). He eventually turned him to the dark side, and anointed him with the name of Kylo Ren, who serves him loyally, believing that the Supreme Leader was wise and right to overthrow the New Republic. Ren was unaware (or in denial) that Snoke does not truly care about him, as he is only using Ren for his power. Even when Han tries to point that out and stating that Snoke will just get rid of Ren when he gets what he wants, Ren angrily refuses to believe this and instead kills Han for it. However, after Han died and Snoke berated Ren, proving what Han claimed, Ren was angered but still at first sought his master's approval, unaware that Snoke had just been motivating him. His bond with Rey soon made him seriously consider overthrowing him with aid from her and this reached a breaking point when Snoke confessed that he used the mental connection between Rey and Kylo to lead him to Luke. Snoke then tried to goad Kylo into killing Rey by insulting and humiliating him, which finally made Kylo realize that Han was right about Snoke. Filled with hatred against his own master for using him, an enraged Kylo kills Snoke by slicing him in half with Luke's lightsaber and briefly joining forces with Rey killing Snoke's Praetorian Guards before taking over as the new Supreme Leader. Armitage Hux Kylo and Hux have a rivalry with each other. They both seek favoritism from Snoke and they usually argue with each other for problems that go with The First Order and the plans to destroy the New Republic and the Resistance as shown when Kylo blames Hux for Finn's betrayal by seeing Hux making a mistake with his men being programmed to follow orders directly and Hux blaming Kylo in front of Snoke for losing the map to Skywalker by capturing Rey instead of BB-8 due to Rey seeing the map. However, despite their differences, they work well together with The First Order's operations and Hux did end up saving Kylo under Snoke's orders. After discovering that Supreme Leader Snoke is dead and Kylo Ren lying unconscious in the throne room, Hux contemplates shooting Ren, but abandoned this idea after Kylo regained consciousness. Kylo then lies to Hux that Rey killed Snoke, and announced that he is taking over as the new Supreme Leader. Hux strongly objects at the idea of taking orders from Kylo, but is forced into compliance after being Force-choked by an angry Kylo. This mistreatment coupled with Hux thinking that Ben is a terrible leader, results in him becoming a mole out of spite. Phasma Kylo and Phasma are rarely seen together but have a good relationship, being a dangerous team. Kylo and Phasma are seen during the Attack on Tuanul when Kylo orders to Phasma to kill the survivors. It's unknown what he thinks about Phasma's for henious crimes if he even knows everything she has done. Rey Kylo and Rey have been enemies ever since Rey located and purchased BB-8. Kylo is convinced of her power, believing even she does not know it. He very much longs to turn her to the dark side and train her, but this ultimately backfires for the time being. Rey's hatred of him increased after he killed Han Solo, and she tried to kill him with Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber, unaware that Kylo is in fact Anakin's grandson, and the weapon does rightfully belong to him. During their battle, Kylo noticeably holds back because he does not want to kill her but train her instead; this costs him the fight as Rey allows the Force to truly flow through her for the first time and overpowers him, even disfiguring his face with a slash. However, Rey has developed a certain connection within the Force as she was able to communicate with Kylo with their minds. She soon learns that Kylo has succumbed to the dark side not only due to Snoke's corruption, but also Luke's attempted murder after sensing the darkness within Kylo, something which a remorseful Luke admitted to. Kylo even learned that Rey was abandoned by her parents for money and revealed this to her after he killed Snoke. Realizing now that Kylo's fall to the dark side wasn't entirely his fault, Rey decided that there may be some good in Kylo and tries to convinces him to join back the light after killing Snoke and his guards, but Kylo refuses as he wanted to create a legacy far away from that of Luke's and Snoke's. Kylo even tried to convince Rey to join him in his pursuit, but she refuses and instead escapes with the Resistance, much to Kylo's anger and disappointment. He even put the blame of Snoke's murder on Rey to cement his new role as Supreme Leader. When fighting a force projection of Luke, he vows to destroy Rey and the Resistance, however when he later storms the abandoned shelter, the connection between himself and Rey mysteriously re-opens and he is distressed at Rey closing herself off from him with a look of disappointment. Finn Kylo Ren has been suspicious of Finn ever since the massacre on Jakku. He could sense his fear and hesitation. Later he figured out that Finn was the stormtrooper who saved the captured Poe Dameron. They become even more enemies when Kylo captured Rey and killed Han Solo, he became enraged when Finn used Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber, when he stated that weapon belongs to him, Finn mocks Kylo (unaware that he is in fact Anakin's grandson, and the lightsaber does rightfully belong to him) telling him to come and get it, the two engaged (as Finn was trying to avenge Han's death) in a lightsaber duel, although he was able to hold his own reasonably well for a relatively short period of time and even managed to lightly wound Kylo's right shoulder. Ultimately, however, Finn was defeated by Kylo, partly due to his lack of Force-sensitivity, and mainly because of the latter's superior experience and skills in lightsaber combat, as Kylo disarmed him of Anakin's lightsaber and dealt him a severe wound to his back. The only reason he did so well was because of an injury Ren endured eariler. Poe Dameron Kylo and Poe became enemies when Kylo and The First Order capture him and Kylo forced Poe to reveal the location of the Map of Skywalker in BB-8 by using the Force to make him reveal it. Emperor Palpatine After finding out that Emperor Palpatine was alive, Kylo Ren's first thoughts were about finding and killing the resurrected Dark Lord of the Sith, as he considered him a threat to his power as the new Supreme Leader of the First Order. The Emperor, however, revealed that he had been pulling the strings from behind the scenes since the very beginning: The First Order (Kylo's new regime) was planned and secretly created by Palpatine using Snoke as his satellite. Even Snoke himself was a creation and puppet of Palpatine, making the latter responsible for Kylo's fall to the Dark Side. Nevertheless, even after offering Kylo Ren his Sith fleet Kylo was still determined to be the ultimate power in the Galaxy (along with Rey) and planned to usurp Palpatine to take control of his immense fleet. Killed Victims *Lor San Tekka (slashed with his lightsaber) *Han Solo (pierced with his lightsaber) *Supreme Leader Snoke (slashed in half with Anakin's lightsaber when he controlled it with the Force) *Four Elite Praetorian Guards *The Knights of Ren Reception Both the character of Kylo Ren and Driver's performance have been positively received. Many complimented Ren's conflicted nature and depth, as well as his costume design, and noted there were many places the character could be taken in future installments. Terri Schwartz of IGN also called Driver's performance "spectacular", noting that "his performance adds great depth to a character who could have come off as one-dimensional, and the implications of his arc leave a viewer with plenty to think about after they leave the theater". Collin wrote, "To describe Kylo Ren as this film's Vader would be accurate in a sense ... But it would also be to undersell the deep ingenuity with which this astonishing character has been crafted by Abrams, Kasdan and Arndt, and also the wells of emotional tumult Driver invests in him." Comparing the character to the one-note Vader of the 1977 film, Leon calls Ren "a living battleground between darkness and light, making him a far more resonant and familiar portrayal of that struggle than we've ever seen in Star Wars ... makes him a far more interesting villain." Abrams told Entertainment Weekly, "it was a great joy to work with Adam Driver on this role, because he threw himself into it in a deep and remarkable way." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter noted, "Ren is given a pronounced inferiority complex, a clever bad guy twist that could be taken to interesting places both in the writing and performance." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "The bald-faced attempt to clone Vader, one of the greatest in film history, is clankingly obvious, but Driver, masked and unmasked, gives him hypnotic and haunting contours." Kyle Buchanan of Vulture.com was underwhelmed by the reveal of Driver under the mask. Leon, however, argued: But that face—that of a normal, vulnerable young man—is the most subversively terrifying thing about J. J. Abrams' reimagining of A New Hope. Rather than pure evil, Ren is something far more familiar: He is human. Just like the real-life young men with minds clouded by fear, hate, and anger who commit unspeakable acts in our world every day ... all the visual cues that leave the character open to criticisms of not being "evil" enough—are all signs of Ren's struggle between the Dark Side and the Light. Driver won a 2016 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal. Quotes Trivia *It is possible that in order to complete his training of whatever Snoke wants him to be, Kylo Ren had to hunt down and kill Luke Skywalker. **While this could be possible, he seems to have failed since Luke became one with the Force in peace. *Even though Supreme Leader Snoke was the founder of the First Order and the one who seduced Kylo to the dark side, Kylo was assumed to be the main antagonist of the sequel trilogy as a whole because he was the immediate threat that Rey had to face and turned out to be even more dangerous than Snoke. However, Emperor Palpatine was revealed to be the creator of Snoke and the First Order, and that he was manipulating Kylo the entire time; thus, Palpatine is the true main antagonist of the sequel trilogy. *Kylo shares a number of similarities with the Legends character Darth Caedus, in that both were sons of Han and Leia Solo, and both were trained as Jedi before falling to the dark side. *Prior to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, many fans questioned if Kylo Ren and Darth Vader were related due to their similarities, which turned out to be true. *In the movie novelization of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren is revealed to believe that the reason the Galactic Empire lost to the Rebellion was not because of poor strategy or arrogance, but because of sentiment, and that Darth Vader and Luke's compassion for each other were what caused the Empire to collapse. **Also in the novelization, Snoke is also revealed to have chosen Kylo Ren as his apprentice because the former believes the latter to be a focal point in the Force; a perfect blending of light and dark due to his heritage as Darth Vader's grandson. *A scene in The Last Jedi that caused some controversy was that during Kylo Ren and Rey's Force-Bond, Rey sees a shirtless Kylo Ren while he is having his wounds mended. This scene, despite being somewhat gratuitous in nature, was established by director Rian Johnson as Rey being able to see Kylo Ren entirely wherever he was and during whatever he was doing when they are bonded through the Force, not just seeing his eyes or hearing his voice. *Kylo Ren was originally going to be one of the many characters in Ralph Breaks the Internet, but was cut when Lucasfilm took offense at how the movie depicted him as a "spoiled child". 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